John Kasich and Ted Cruz took Donald J. Trump’s march to the Republican presidential nomination down to the wire.
They finally conceded this summer that the real estate mogul/reality TV celebrity would be their party’sĀ nominee.
Sen. Cruz, R-Texas, attended the GOP convention in Cleveland and received a torrent of boos from delegates for encouraging them to “vote your conscience.” He declined at that moment to endorse Trump.
Kasich, who governs Ohio, didn’t attend the convention in his home state. He still hasn’t endorsed Trump.
Whereas Cruz’s initial refusal was based on Trump’s repeated insults against Heidi Cruz, the candidate’s wife, and his father, Rafael, Kasich has kept his distance because Trump — in Kasich’s view — simply doesn’t represent the tradition of a once-great political party.
Cruz swilled the Kool-Aid and today announced he would vote for Trump in November. Kasich hasn’t said anything of the kind.
I had hoped Sen. Cruz would remain on the sidelines. Now it’s up to Kasich to demonstrate that at least one Republican leader has the stones to stand on principle.
Gov. Kasich remains my favorite Republican presidential candidate. Indeed, had he been the nominee instead of Trump, there stood an excellent chance that I would have voted Republican for president this year — for the first time since I began voting in 1972.
I’m still wrestling with what I’m going to do this year.
Kasich should have been the nominee, given his record of success as a leader in Congress and his cooperation with President Bill Clinton in achieving a balanced federal budget.
Sadly, none of that seemed to matter to the red-meat carnivores who comprise the base of the Republican Party.
My hope remains that Gov. Kasich will remain at arm’s length from this year’s GOP nominee.
I’ve noted all along that Kasich was the rare grown-up in this year’s GOP presidential campaign. He hasn’t let me down yet.